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Share: The Icon No One Agrees On

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Re: Share: The Icon No One Agrees On

#71

Post by ivionday »

jessaustin wrote: post #65
zippergz wrote: post #31

It seems like "just pick something arbitrary and everyone agree on it" is a better solution than "find a small simple icon that effectively evokes 'share' to a brand new user." In other words, this is confusing not because the icons don't represent sharing well enough, but because they're different on every platform. There are lots of things on computers that aren't immediately obvious, but once you learn the convent…

Ok, not the milkshake. There is no doubt in my mind, that the milkshake is the best possible icon for sharing. The only thing that could conceivably be better would be a Lady-and-the-Tramp -style single-strand spaghetti dinner, but that might be hard to draw.

Except for the couple billion people who sadly don't know what a milkshake is.

Re: Share: The Icon No One Agrees On

#72

Post by sb23 »

mrtksn wrote: post #69

This is particularly interesting article because they have the answer to the question on the bottom of the page: http://i.imgur.com/0NdMB4S.png The share icons are Facebook, Twitter and Google+ logos. The share icon that nobody agrees to is actually just the icon that is going to reveal the interface of the actual share icons. I think that users don't want to share, they want to post on facebook, tweet or do the thin…

Often the share icon will let you post via email or sms as well as facebook and twitter, though. I have only ever used the share icon on my phone. If I'm going to share via my browser i'll just copy/paste the URL.

Re: Share: The Icon No One Agrees On

#73

Post by XorNot »

dmdeller wrote: post #49
kbutler wrote: post #26

Rather than "Share", read the action as "Send to". This clarifies the author's preference for icons with the arrows, fits with the usual mix of upload/post-to-social-app/open-in-other-app actions, and removes the motivation for the somewhat out-of-place milkshake icon. (You can keep the 'share' label for marketing purposes if you want...)

Exactly. Apple does not refer to this icon as the 'share' icon in official documentation. It is actually the 'action' button[1]. As in, I have some data in this app, and I want to do something with it outside of this app. Hence, the symbol of an arrow moving outside of something. Many of the possible actions resulting from tapping that icon (on iOS) may be unrelated social sharing (e.g., copy, save to photo library,…

The google 'share' icon is the same. On Android it means 'do an action with' since all it does is activate the intents menu.

Re: Share: The Icon No One Agrees On

#74

Post by spb »

bztzt wrote: post #56

Incidentally, early prerelease versions of Windows 8 used the "Open Share" icon: http://www.neowin.net/images/uploaded/195351i26jesbggjt18g0i... ; wonder why they changed it.

Probably Microsoft's traditional "submarine patent fears" excuse for NIH.

Re: Share: The Icon No One Agrees On

#75

Post by spb »

http://i.imgur.com/80fMIju.png - here's a quick mockup I made in Inkscape of the best icon I know for "share". It's two people handing something off to each other.

When I was a kid, this is what I thought the old "Find" binoculars icon from Microsoft Word / Netscape was. It seems to me that an icon that brings this association inadvertently is better than a contrived abstract symbol that requires explanation.

Re: Share: The Icon No One Agrees On

#76

Post by tendom »

whoa-duder wrote: post #57

Words, why not use words?

Not an expert, but reasons I've discovered over my career: 1. Because words take up a significant amount of space. On mobile, icons improve the experience. 2. Words in other languages can destroy layouts, meaning customizing style for each language. For instance, potato in english is pomme de terre(apple of the earth) in Canadian French. Some other languages I've worked with are much worse. English can be very terse it turns out. 3. Drop down menus require more clicks than a toolbar. Word toolbars without images either read like a sentence and are confusing, or they are well padded and then will take even more space. 4. Pictures can be more accessible to many people (if done correctly) 5. Our brains react to icon faster than to words. We actually store words and icons differently as well. 6. Reading is hard, and expends more energy. Really. It has to do with the above.
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